Suppliers 'more resourceful' than Ford's Fields figured

DETROIT -- Mark Fields, president of the Americas at Ford Motor Co., is surprised that so few suppliers failed during last year's industry turmoil.

Now, as it and other automakers boost production, Ford is helping only a few suppliers buy materials, work out engineering problems or solve other issues, Fields said.

"I thought we would have seen more suppliers go under," he said last week during an interview. "They were a lot more resourceful than I think we gave them credit for."

Ford said last week that its second-quarter production in North America will be 625,000 vehicles, a 5 percent increase from the plan announced March 2. Compared with a year earlier, output is expected to rise 39 percent.